No.1 Mk.III inner band.

[Son]

I do not own a Mk1 SMLE, but I vaguely recall that the Inner Band was in a different location along the barrel on the earlier models.

I guess there was some incremental fine tuning as the ammunition developed in parallel with the rifle.

There's the proof in the pudding... The Mk1 family of rifles had the inner band directly inside the outer band. This caused problems with the front handguard being very thin at that point and broke very easily. The fix was to move the inner band 1" rearward for the MkIII in 1907. Here's a pic of the two foreends to demonstrate. To the best of my understanding and research, it had nothing to do with harmonics or ammunition, just fixing the weakness inherent to the original design. Happy to see any docs you might have, Bruce. I have stood corrected a few times by your resources

Attachment 56382

Just to add for collectors and restorers... The inner band is actually tapered the same as the barrel. (slip one on a barrel, mark where it goes to and turn it around and mark it again. There will be 1/2 an inch or so between) An inner band for a Mk1 isn't marked as such, but an inner band for a MkIII has "III" on the surface it locks on. It is also marginally bigger than the MkI for fit on the barrel. If you were restoring a MkI you can use a MkIII inner band. If it has too much clearance for you, just turn it around so it isn't as loose (but will still clear)

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